Another LED Questions Thread!

tyler1503 · Dec 17, 2013

Hi everyone.
I've done a lot of research on LEDs and the more I read, the more contradicting information I get and the more confused I get!
I'm not entirely sure how the circuit is supposed to be set up.
Also, I've got some 10w LED chips for very cheap. They aren't great quality and they're cheap Chinese ones, so I'm not expecting amazing quality. Although if I can get a light set up for under $50 I'll be happy even if it doesn't last long. They're 6500k and 455nm.
I'm planning 2 channels, one with 10W 6500k and the other with 20W 455nm.

So here are my many questions!
Should the circuit go wall socket-AC wall plug-AC to DC converter/power supply-dimmer-driver-led?
Is the 6500k suitable? I was told 14000k or more whites were best, although I think with a 1:2 ratio of white to blue it would be too blue with 14000k or more.
What wattage driver do I need? Should I do a 10W driver on the white channel and a 20W driver on the blues? Or should the drivers be more or less powerful than the LEDs?
Do I need an actual heatsink? Or can any thick metal plate work to dissipate heat?

Thanks to all who can share some info!

YodaHart · Dec 17, 2013

Do you have a link or more details about the leds you bought? That will help to determine what else you'll need.

tyler1503 · Dec 17, 2013

I don't have an actual link as I got them off eBay and I use the app, not the site.
If you simply search "10W 460nm" you'll see what I'm talking about.

tyler1503 · Dec 17, 2013

Oh, and I have mainly lps and softies.
I may add a birds best or pocilopora, but that's it for sps.
It's for a 5gal reef, but I want it to be powerful enough to light a 24gal fowlr eventually.

Reefing Madness · Dec 17, 2013

Wiring Diagrams - Reef LED Lights

tyler1503 · Dec 19, 2013

Thanks reefing madness

Also, bumpety bump!!

Reefing Madness · Dec 19, 2013

You can use the same driver for both channels. You will need a heat sink, as you are using some strong LEDs. You want to go 2:1 Blue/White. Also, might want to think about adding maybe a green and a red LED if not 2 of each to the bunch, you'd be amazed at what that does for color. Also, possibly mixing up the blues and going with 420-460, half and half.

tyler1503 · Dec 20, 2013

Reefing Madness said:
You can use the same driver for both channels. You will need a heat sink, as you are using some strong LEDs. You want to go 2:1 Blue/White. Also, might want to think about adding maybe a green and a red LED if not 2 of each to the bunch, you'd be amazed at what that does for color. Also, possibly mixing up the blues and going with 420-460, half and half.

I am only using it for corals on a 5 gal so I was only going to use 60W of LEDs on a dimmable driver and being 10W chips, I'll only need 6. Just 450-460nm blues and 6500k white in a 2:1 blue:white ratio. I figured the 6500k would give me a little more red and green than the 10k or 14k I was originally going to get. I could also get a warmer white for more red spectrum in need be.
Would this be suitable? If not, I may have to rethink everything and use a larger quantity of lesser wattage LEDs to get a more precise spectrum and better coverage.
I want to add reds and greens like you suggested and also some violet, but using 6x10W LEDs doesn't give me much room to play with.
If you think my planning won't work, I'll re plan it all with 3W or maybe even 1W LEDs.
Thanks for your help.

Reefing Madness · Dec 20, 2013

Only a 5g tank, you don't need that much light. Just one 6500k and 2 450s will do the trick, and then it will still be to much light, you'll be dialing those things down to like 15-25%
1w Leds would be best for that tank, then you can throw a bunch of whatever you wanted in the mix.

TJ's Reef · Dec 20, 2013

+1 to Reefing Madness. For supplemental lighting in the Red, Green Violet you could definitely get away with very low wattage emitters 1/2 -1w and simply run/drive with a 350 ma wall wart. As DIY would even suggest dissecting and rebuilding a multi color LED X-mas light string (not the ones with colored plastic fake C-5 lenses but the ones that actually have colored emitters using a clear lense) or in another DIY thread I started about using Automotive LED Ground Effect kits as Stunner Strips or Moonlights they have Red, Green and Purple/Violet kits as well.

Cheers, Todd

tyler1503 · Dec 20, 2013

It's only for corals on a 5gal, but I may add some low light mushrooms to my 24gal fowlr if my valentini puffer will allow it, so I want to have the option to put it on there to grow stuff too.
Do you think 1 white and 2 blues on a dimmer would suffice for that?
I wanted to go 1W or 3W LEDs, but per watt the 10W worked out MUCH cheaper. I got 30W of 6500k for $3 shipped

The Xmas light ideas is a good one

I may do that for some moonlights or something.
I've used the 5050 led strip lights eBay has thousands of as moonlights before and they worked like a charm